I am curious to hear from some of the folks here which photographers (living or dead) they consider to be their greatest photographic influences? Here's my top three in no particular order:

Courtney MilneMr. Milne is a photographer living in Saskatchewan who has probably done more than any other artist to bring alive the hidden beauty of Canada's prairies. Being a fellow rural dweller, and living just a stone's throw from Saskatchewan, I'd have to say that Courtney Milne's work really speaks to me.

Ansel AdamsStudying Ansel's work taught me the importance of previsualising my images. I can now look at a fairly drab scene and realize that there is a great photograph there if I have the patience to work it over a bit in my digital darkroom.

Michael ReichmannI like Michael's work because of its subtlety. His images are permeated by an understated elegance, shibui if you will. His ability to isolate details in his photographs, ones that most others would overlook, gives me heart palpitations.

Ansel Adams would be high on the list. Not so much for his visual style per se, but his approach to the process--starting with a visualized end result, and then performing the entire process of composition, shooting, post-processing, and printing to bring that result into being with the highest possible level of technical and artistic excellence.

Salgado, Salgado, Salgado! The man has biblical composition. I am also very fond of the early --> mid 20th century French photographers -- Cartier-Bresson, Doisneau, Ronis, Brassaï. Magical stuff created with what we would consider primitive equipment. Just reinforces the point that it doesn't matter what technology you use, the image is all that matters!

I think there's a subtopic that may be interesting to many. That is who is your most influencial "teacher" of photography.

The art side of my experience was begun by attending workshops in the late 60's early 70's. They include AA/Alan Ross & John Sexton. I am an unabashed Weston fan.

But my favorite teacher of "technique" was the late Fred Picker. The cool thing about Fred was if he found a nuisance problem, he had a device invented to solve the problem. dry down, just dial in 3-5%(paper dependent). Cool light head output varing with voltage, build a stabilizer. My whole darkroom is populated with Zone VI equipment. Some really bright guy (I think from MIT?) worked with him to solve darkroom issues. He was one hell of a printer.

I am fortunate to live 15 minutes from the Amon Carter Museum, one of the more photo-centric museums in the country. My kids grew up, being in tow being exposed to the great American photographers. The Porter permanent collection is located there. The Avedon exibit, the American west, is there now. Impactful.

In some ways, Michael is the current Picker, in that his greatest influence is the imparting of information to many.

I think there's a subtopic that may be interesting to many. That is who is your most influencial "teacher" of photography.

The art side of my experience was begun by attending workshops in the late 60's early 70's. They include AA/Alan Ross & John Sexton. I am an unabashed Weston fan.

But my favorite teacher of "technique" was the late Fred Picker. The cool thing about Fred was if he found a nuisance problem, he had a device invented to solve the problem. dry down, just dial in 3-5%(paper dependent). Cool light head output varing with voltage, build a stabilizer. My whole darkroom is populated with Zone VI equipment. Some really bright guy (I think from MIT?) worked with him to solve darkroom issues. He was one hell of a printer.

I am fortunate to live 15 minutes from the Amon Carter Museum, one of the more photo-centric museums in the country. My kids grew up, being in tow being exposed to the great American photographers. The Porter permanent collection is located there. The Avedon exibit, the American west, is there now. Impactful.

In some ways, Michael is the current Picker, in that his greatest influence is the imparting of information to many.

bob[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=55182\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Good points, Bob. My own darkroom and film setups were heavily influenced by Picker, too. Zone VI view camera, cold-light enlarger head, viewing filters, etc., etc. Minor White really got me to try to see things (two workshops with him in the 60s), but later on, Fred Picker's newsletter and equipment helped out a lot.

Ah, the good old days! One of these days soon I hope to go back into my darkroom and see if I can still make a decent wet print. My one remaining film camera is a Mamiya 6 RF (6x6).

Around Boston in recent years at the Museum of Fine Arts there have been several truly great Weston exhibits and one great Adams exhibit (just closing bout now).

I think there's a subtopic that may be interesting to many. That is who is your most influencial "teacher" of photography.

If I had to name my most influential teacher, it would be Larrie Thomson. Larrie was kind enough to take me on some road trips and teach me his light painting technique, which I adapted to digital. While he's nearly 100% nocturnal, his biggest influence on me was not to make me fall in love with light painting (which I am), but to make me fall in love with rural photography. I get heart palpitations whenever I find an abandoned barn, a lone tree in the prairies, or a dead car lying in some farmer's field. I blame Larrie for this.

Robert Bateman, not for the main subjects necessarily but for the exquisite detail work and Freeman Patterson. While I prefer shooting B & W, these 2 gentlemen had a wonderfully profound impact on my appreciation for shooting nature.

Tim

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Tim " The measure of a man is not how many times he gets knocked down, but how many times he gets back up" Anonymous